The Panthers have led the NFL now in replacing starting
quarterbacks, taking basically little more than one half to
send Rodney Peete to the bench and elevating Jake Delhomme
who responded with three second-half touchdowns to secure
the comeback win for Carolina over the Jaguars.

Delhomme threw for 122 yards and hit three different receivers
for the scores. The Carolina passing game is much improved
with Jake, but the team will continue to be a run-first offense.
Those scores were caught by Muhsin Muhammad (1-13), Steve
Smith (4-44) and Ricky Proehl (2-20). It's always nice to
have a touchdown from your fantasy receiver but without that,
and it is unlikely to be a constant occurrence, the Carolina
receivers will not be producing big fantasy numbers this season.
It is notable that Muhammad almost had another score that
was called incomplete in the endzone when the ball touched
the ground.

Stephen Davis proved to be a great addition in the offseason,
gaining 111 yards on only 22 carries for a five yard per carry
average. Davis had all but two carries from the running backs
though De'Shaun Foster did have three catches for 16 yards.

The Panthers defense allowed an uncharacteristic 272 yards
passing as Mark Brunell dissected the secondary using questionable
receivers. This game needs to get the defense on track again
and will be tested in the air until they prove to have corrected
cornerback mistakes.

The Buccaneers come off a dominating performance on Monday
night, silencing the fans at the new Lincoln Financial Field
in Philadelphia. Revenge game for the Eagles? Tampa Bay provided
the course in anger management by shutting out the Eagles
17-0 and holding Donovan McNabb to only 148 yards passing.
While they gave up a total of 121 yards on the ground, 47
of it came from James Thrash on an end around. The primary
ball carrier Duce Staley was held to only 14 yards on seven
carries. It appears the defense is still a slight cut above
astounding.

Michael Pittman rushed eight times for 35 yards and Thomas
Jones had ten rushes for 30 yards but Mike Alstott received
the bulk of the carries with 12 carries for 23 yards. This
is a backfield without a star nor even a primary back.

Brad Johnson was efficient during his 27 of 36 for 238 yards
effort, hitting nine different receivers that included Warren
Sapp (1-14). Keyshawn Johnson (6-83) brought his "A"
game and was a constant threat over the middle while Joe Jurevicius
(4-39) delivered on his potential to be a red zone threat
by catching both Tampa Bay touchdowns.

It is obvious that the Buccaneers have not lost much on either
the offense or defense since last season. The Panthers stumbled
last week but under Delhomme scratched back for an impressive
win. This week look for two good defenses to duke it out and
score marginally better than the 12-9 Tampa Bay win last season.
Delhomme will try to keep the Buccaneers from loading up against
Stephen Davis, but Delhomme has not had enough time in the
system to get rid of mental mistakes and establish good chemistry
with the receivers. Those mistakes will doom the Panthers'
chances.